


Slayers, Watchers & Another Ruined Holiday

by Kylia (saphicwitch)



Series: New Traditions [8]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: F/F, F/M, Holidays, M/M, Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-30
Updated: 2012-10-30
Packaged: 2017-11-21 05:59:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/594252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saphicwitch/pseuds/Kylia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Xander and Angel have some unexpected guests</p>
            </blockquote>





	Slayers, Watchers & Another Ruined Holiday

I walked through the crowds at the airport trying to appear like I *belonged* here. As if I was just a regular guy, waiting for a flight or to pick up a relative.  
  
The fact that that idea couldn't possibly be further from the truth was incidental.  
  
"You see anything?"  
  
I stopped searching the crowds in front of me and turned to face my best friend.  
  
"Not unless you count the extremely suspicious gnome waiting for a flight to Florida." I answered with a grin.  
  
Willow giggled and searched the crowd herself. "Suspicious because he's a gnome?" She asked turning around to gaze behind us.  
  
"No, because he was going to *Florida*." I told her. "Complete with a hideous Hawaiian print shirt."  
  
Willow giggled again and then sighed as she turned back to me. "Are you sure these demons are supposed to be *here*? Tonight?"  
  
I shrugged. "Don't ask me. I just came along for the excitement." I grinned at her and looked around again. "Wes said that tonight was the only night these demons would feel safe enough to come out, and when have you known Wes to be wrong?"  
  
"Well." Willow hedged.  
  
"Sunnydale notwithstanding."  
  
Willow chuckled. "Not very often."

  
"Either they're not coming, or they've already been here." I said as I made a full circle and end up facing Willow again.  
  
"I'll go find Faith and you can catch up with Wes and Gunn and see if they had any luck downstairs. We'll meet you in the parking garage in half an hour."  
  
"Sounds good." I said already turning away from her.  
  
I really couldn't wait to get home.  
  
This impromptu hunt for some possibly dangerous demons at the Los Angeles International Airport was definitely *not* on my list of things to do Tuesday night.  
  
It was the day before Halloween and since it's *supposed* to be fairly mundane in the land of the evil and not-so-evil undead, Angel and I had plans. But the mere fact that we had plans dictated that something would go wrong.  
 

Hence the night's festivities.  
  
Angel and Cordelia were helping Lorne with some problem concerning a Veliok demon. So when we got a report about a small clan of Lethau demons that attacked some people a few miles away from the airport, Wesley determined that the demons would be headed here.  
  
The airport had both of the things that they would be searching for. Underground access and lots of people.  
  
It seemed the Lethau were a nomadic species of demon that live in clans, deep underground. They only surfaced for three days once every fifty years in search of food. It was the second night, and Halloween was too dangerous for them, due to the activity the holiday usually brought.  
  
Unfortunately the food they were searching for consisted mostly of people.  
  
So, there we were, in the airport, surrounded by thousands of people, hoping to catch site of a group of really nasty, hungry demons, that may, or may not have been there.  
  
Even if they were here, what were the odds we'd find them?  
  
I sighed and turned towards the stairs. Wesley and Gunn were on the floor below; maybe they had had better luck. Just as I was about to make my way through the throng of people towards the stairs, something caught my eye. I'm not really sure what made me stop and turn around, but the moment I did, I wish I had resisted the urge.  
  
Standing about fifteen feet away, near a grouping of chairs filled with people waiting for a flight, there was a line of people just coming out of one of the planes that had just arrived. Nothing too unusual about that, except that two of the people towards the front of the line were people I knew. People I hadn't seen in three months and didn't think I would ever see again.  
  
I seriously thought about ducking behind some of the milling travelers before they saw me.  
  
"Xander?"  
  
Oops, too late.  
  
I smiled slightly. "Giles. Buffy." I walked a little closer to them, looking around carefully hoping that Willow and Faith didn't come back looking for me.  
  
"Fancy meeting you here." I focused on Giles, not certain how Buffy was feeling about me. It had been over three months since Willow and I left Sunnydale, but we hadn't had any contact with her since she trashed my apartment.  
  
"We were on our way to England." Giles offered, looking at me with that British smile of his.  
  
"England?" I asked. I was sort of surprised.  
  
"Watchery stuff." Buffy smiled slightly. She looked a little tense. Not that I could blame her. I was feeling sort of tense myself.  
  
I nodded. I was at a loss. Not sure what to say, or what not to say.  
  
"Are you going somewhere?" Giles asked then. I must have look confused because he elaborated. "Why are you here?"  
  
"I live here." And the second I said that, I realized he meant, here, at the airport, not here, in Los Angeles.  
  
"At the airport?" Buffy asked in confusion.  
  
I shook my head. "Uh, no. I'm looking for…" and before I could finish my sentence all hell broke loose.  
  
There was a shrill scream from several yards behind Buffy and Giles. Just as we turned around, this huge, hideous looking demon came running out of the crowd. He ran past us and down the stairs to my left.  
  
I pointed in the direction he disappeared into. "For that. I'm here looking for that."  
  
Before I could even elaborate three more of the damn things came running through, and the three of us started chasing them, joined by Willow, Wesley, Faith and Gunn. After that things got really confusing.  
  
Let it never be said that I don't know how to have a good time. By the time that the entire clan had been disposed of, it was nearly three in the morning, and Giles and Buffy had missed their connecting flight to England.  
  
What else could I do but invite them back to the hotel?  
  
So there we were, two slayers, a former watcher, a witch, and me, heading back to a mostly empty hotel run by my vampire lover.  
  
Who says my life is boring?  
  
****  
  
"This is where you live?" Giles asked as he looked around the darkened lobby of the Hyperion.  
  
I thought he spoke more to shatter the pervasive silence than to know more about where we hung our proverbial hats.  
 It was nearing four am and most of the lights were out. Only one dim bulb near the staircase illuminated the large room.  
  
The light was evidence enough that Angel had returned. We had turned off all the lights before leaving and Angel didn't need the light himself and no doubt left it on for me. It was another one of those small things I found him doing which I *knew* he hadn't done when he lived alone.  
  
I guessed that Cordelia had probably gone home. It was too quiet for her to still have been there. She had a room at the hotel, but she usually never stayed there, unless it was absolutely necessary. She preferred her apartment, with all its comforts.  
  
Wesley and Gunn had gone home, declining to return to the hotel with us. I can't say as I blame them. Gunn didn't know Giles or Buffy at all, only what he'd heard from Willow and I, and the occasional comment from Faith. Angel declined to talk about either of them. He had too much history with both of them to be comfortable talking about them casually.  
  
Wesley didn't really know Buffy that well on a personal level, and he didn't have that good of a relationship with Giles. His time in Sunnydale hadn't been the best, for any of us, and it was so long ago, so much had changed since then, it all seemed sort of pointless to discuss it.  
  
This unexpected reunion was odd all the way around. A bunch of people with history we didn't really want to repeat, or talk about.  
  
Faith walked over to the small panel on the wall and flipped a switch. Several lights came on at once, momentarily blinding us.  
  
Giles and Buffy shielded their eyes while Willow and I only blinked a couple of times. Faith was fond of playing with the little buttons and switches that Angel had had installed in the past year for the comfort of the other people who lived in the Hotel.  
  
I really wasn't sure what we should do now. Things were really awkward. We had all made a point of *not* talking to each other.  
  
We seemed to be past small talk, but disinclined to actually share anything that had been going on the past few months, so we were trapped in this thick silence.  
  
I cleared my throat and moved towards the desk. "It's pretty late. We should all get some sleep." I bend over the top of the counter and grabbed the ring of master keys.  
  
"Come on." I nodded towards the stairs.  
  
I showed them to a couple of rooms on the opposite end of the hall as Angel and mine. I so didn't want to get into a 'situation' with Angel and Buffy staying anywhere near each other.  
  
Luckily they seemed just as eager to call it a night as I was. I left them alone and went down the hall to Angel's room.  
  
I stood outside the door for a moment debating whether or not I should go inside. I knew Buffy was watching me from down the hall. I could *feel* her eyes on me, and wasn't sure if it was really wise to invite trouble.  
  
*~*~*~*    
  
  
I listened to the sounds in the hotel. Xander was down the hall showing our impromptu guests to their rooms.  
  
I had been concerned when I returned to the hotel after dropping Cordelia off at home to find it empty. Xander had left a brief note scrawled in his hard to read hand on the desk in the lobby. It wasn't unusual for something to come up that required us to leave in the middle of the night. Still, Xander and I had made plans.  
  
Just the two of us. No emergencies, no evil, nothing undead. Except for me.  
  
I don't remember the last time we had time for ourselves. Maybe never.  
  
Xander's been here for three months. Three months of having him within arms reach. sort of. He's been living here at the hotel. He has his own room, but he spent a lot of time in mine.  
  
Not that I'm complaining. Not really.  
  
It's just that although he's been here for three months, we're still taking things slowly. Really slowly.  
  
Our physical relationship seemed to be moving along better than the rest of it.  
  
Xander and I were trying to figure out where exactly we fit in each other's lives, while Xander figured out what happens next, for him.  
  
He left Sunnydale, his home for his entire life, to come here, and although he said it wasn't any great hardship to do it, sometimes I wonder. There wasn't anything there he didn't want to leave behind, but sometimes I wonder if he's sorry he came here.  
  
He seems awkward sometimes around me. Almost as though he *wants* to be here with me, but isn't really sure that he should, or if maybe we're making a mistake.  
  
I want to ask him about it, but every time I'm about to, something happens. A new evil comes breezing through town, or Cordelia gets a vision, or another of the many things that make up our life.  
  
That's why tomorrow was so important. We were supposed to go out, just the two of us. We were debating actually leaving town in order to ensure no interruptions. So when I came home and found his note, I just *knew* that something would come up.  
  
Then Wes called and confirmed it.  
  
They had wound up at the airport hunting a clan of demons. They caught them, but in the process ran into Giles. And Buffy.  
  
So of course, Xander had to bring them home with him.  
  
There goes our alone time. And to add insult to injury I have no idea how Buffy and Giles are going to deal with being stuck in a hotel with the four of us.  
  
It doesn't look good.  
  
The door to my bedroom opening up pulls me from my thoughts.  
  
"Hey." Xander smiles slightly at me.  
  
"You're home." I move towards him and pull him into my arms.  
  
"Yeah. How was the demon hunt?" He asks quietly.  
  
"Demon caught. Cordelia went home. They're still going to try and get away for a few days." I tell him. Since we were planning to go out of town tomorrow, Cordelia, Gunn and Wesley had made plans of their own.  
  
Xander nods. "Cool. At least someone will be having fun." He looks up at me anxiously.  
  
"You brought company." I moved back towards the bed, taking him with me.  
  
"Buffy and Giles. We ran into them."  
  
"I know." I told him and smiled when he looked at me curiously.  
  
"You weren't exactly quiet." I pressed a kiss to his lips, hoping he'd relax now that he was here, with me. I pulled away from him and smiled again. "Plus, Wes called."  
  
"Ah." He said and moved to sit next to me, instead of my lap where I wanted him.  
  
I picked him up and moved him across my lap and started nuzzling his neck.  
  
"Much better." I whispered into his skin when he started to relax into me.  
  
I continued to nuzzle him and he relaxed further into my bare skin. It was beginning to get colder but since I don't feel the cold, I rarely wore more than a pair of boxers to bed, if that.  
  
Eventually, Xander pulled away and moved next to me. His head was still pillowed on my chest but I could tell by his breathing he wasn't as relaxed anymore. His mind was working overtime again.  
  
A lot of people thought that he didn't use his brain very much. They were wrong. He uses it too much, usually. Most of the time he's too busy thinking about one thing or another to regulate some of the things that come out of his mouth. Other times, he's too busy obsessing, internally, over one thing or another to say anything at all.  
  
Like now.  
  
"Don't worry about it." I told him quietly, guessing at his thoughts as I rubbed his arm.  
  
"I think we're cursed." He said. His voice was soft, quiet, almost serious. If I didn't know him half as well as I did, I wouldn't have been able to detect the humor just below the surface.  
  
"They'll leave tomorrow." I reassured him, although I knew that that might be too easy.  
  
Xander snorted and moved his head to look up at me. "Yeah? And how do you like your new tanning bed?" He shook his head and chuckled as he sat up and began to get undressed for bed. "I bet you a months supply of blood they decide to stay for a couple of days."  
  
I had to smile at that. I think Xander's the only human lover I've ever had that doesn't totally avoid the subject of my sole source of sustenance. Not that I've had that many human lovers since I became a vampire. But still, it meant a lot.  
  
"Go to sleep." I told him as he made himself comfortable once again on my shoulder.  
  
I fell asleep to the sound of his heartbeat against my ribs, hoping he was wrong, but somehow knowing that as usual, he wasn't.  
  
*~*~*~*

I woke up only a few hours after I had fallen asleep. It was dawn. I could smell the sunrise and knew I should probably get a few more hours of sleep. Who knew what the day would hold?  
  
But sleep was elusive. I kept thinking about what Xander had said about Giles and Buffy staying for a few days. He made a joke about it, but he didn't really think it was funny.  
  
I knew him well enough now to tell the difference. He's always making cracks about pretty much everything. Sometimes it's to cover up his own feelings, sometimes not. It wasn't always easy to see the difference.  
  
He was worried about what her being here would mean for us. Nothing I could say to him would make him realize that *we* didn't depend on Buffy. Her appearance in our lives, or lack there of, would make no difference whatsoever.  
  
Only time could convince him of that, so I just had to wait.  
  
I climbed out of bed quietly so as not to disturb Xander and pulled on a pair of sweats. I wanted to work out a bit before everyone else got up.  
  
Cordelia had made a point of keeping all of the windows covered to keep out the sun. She said she didn't want me to have any excuse to be unsociable. Whatever her reason, I appreciated it.  
  
I moved into one of the secondary rooms on the ground floor. I think it was originally supposed to be a sort of additional lobby. We removed all of the furniture and added some mats, turning it into a training room. Wesley and Gunn like to spar in here… or something.  
  
We have an unspoken agreement, Xander and I don't intrude on them when they're busy and they don't intrude on us.  
  
I've been training Xander in self-defense, and other things. Faith has been teaching Willow to fight as well, for those times when magic isn't enough. Even Cordelia has taken it upon herself to learn some martial arts.  
  
I let my mind wander to Xander and our relationship as I began my workout. He's a study in contrasts. He's not anything like the boy I knew back in Sunnydale, nor was he what I glimpsed in our short time together since last Christmas.  
  
Seeing him everyday for the past three months has made me realize there's more to him than I could ever have imagined. I thought once he came here, once he made that decision, everything else would be easier.  
  
In some ways, it is. In others, it seemed almost as though nothing had changed.  
  
He still kept so much to himself, so much hidden. I'm not even sure if it's me he's hiding from, or himself.  
  
"It's really true."  
  
The sound startled me. I was so caught up in my own thoughts that I didn't even hear anyone enter. I turned around and found Buffy standing about three feet away from me. She was wearing a pair of jeans and a T-shirt and looked like she had been awake for awhile. I wondered how long she had been standing there.  
  
"What is?" I asked as I moved towards her.  
  
"You and Xander. It's true isn't it? You two are together? Lovers?" Her voice held this odd note to it that I couldn't quite remember hearing before.  
  
I nodded. "Yeah."  
  
"I knew it." Buffy turned her head away from me and looked around the room. "Willow told me." She turned back to look at me. "I don't know. I guess I thought… I don't know what I thought. But running into him at the airport, and then coming back here. I just expected..." She trailed off.  
  
I stood there, listening to her, not sure what to say, what she wanted me to say.  
  
"I'm sorry." I told her.  
  
"Are you?" Her eyes looked up at me. "Are you really?"  
  
I looked away. "No, not for falling in love with him. I am sorry for hurting you."  
  
She nodded again and I thought that was it, but then she opened her mouth again, closed it and opened it again. "You're not gay."  
  
I didn't know how to respond to that. If she wasn't so serious and confused, I would have laughed, but I didn't think she'd see the humor.  
  
"I just don't get it, Angel. You're not gay. You weren't… before. And Xander, and Willow." She shook her heard, obviously confused.  
  
I took a deep unnecessary breath and tried to say something that would make some sort of sense to her. "I'm a vampire, Buffy. I don't know if you ever really grasped that. There are a lot of things about me that probably don't make sense to you. I'm not what you would consider straight. As a vampire, things like sexual orientation just don't matter." I paused before continuing. "I don't know if this will make you feel better or worse, but for what it's worth, I wasn't straight before I was turned either. Back then, all I cared about what having fun, it didn't much matter where I got it.  
  
"As for Xander and Willow, you'll have to talk to them."  
  
We stood there for several minutes staring at one another. I didn't know what else to say to her, and I don't think she knew what else to say to me.  
  
"Is this a private party or can anyone join?"  
  
I turned to face the newcomer and raised an eyebrow at the wicked look in Faith's dark eyes. She had changed a lot since she had come to L.A. looking to kill me.  
  
She's spent a lot of time in jail thinking, realizing her mistakes and trying to decide what to do with her life when she got out. Her visits with Willow were like her connection to the outside world while she made those decisions. I think without either of them realizing it at the time, they saved each other.  
  
In the few months since her release she had discovered something that it took me much longer to understand. She doesn't have to lose herself, her life, or her fire to make amends for what she had done in the past.  
  
She fights with us, doing the right thing sometimes, doing what is necessary most times, but she hasn't become the somber creature simply 'existing' that I had turned into for so long.  
  
For that I envied her.  
  
"Faith." Buffy stiffened and turned towards Faith.  
  
"B. How's it hanging?" She grinned slightly and walked past us into the room, stopping in front of the wall where the weapons we usually spar with hung. She picked a couple of identical staffs and turned back to Buffy, tossing one at her.  
  
"You need a workout?"  
  
Buffy caught the weapon and moved forward. "Love to."  
  
I left the room silently, knowing that they had their own issues that needed working out.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
When I woke up, I noticed I was alone. I climbed out of bed and went into the bathroom to take a shower. Angel was probably downstairs. He liked to get up early and work out, and I didn't think it was fair to leave him alone down there to entertain our guests.  
  
It was me who invited them, after all.  
  
After I was dried off and nearly dressed I sat back down on the bed to put on my shoes. I really didn't want to go downstairs and deal with…whatever needed to be dealt with.  
  
Leaning back against the unmade bed I stared up at the ceiling thinking about all of the changes of the past year, and especially the last few months. Everything was different now.  
  
Everyone had moved on, left Sunnydale. We weren't the same people we were back in high school. Mostly that was a good thing, but I missed the close friendship we had back then.  
  
Willow and I are still close, and Cordy and I have developed a new friendship. Even Willow and Cordelia have put away the past and become friends.  
  
Faith and I made amends, much to Willow's delight. It took us awhile, but we worked everything out. Willow had told me before I left Sunnydale that she knew that her staying here was the right decision, even before Faith had been released from jail.  
  
She felt like part of a family here.  
  
At the time, I didn't really understand exactly what she meant. My track record with family left a lot to be desired, and I couldn't imagine how Los Angeles could be any different.  
  
Angel was still Angel, and Cordelia was still Cordelia.  
  
I was wrong.  
  
Things are so much more than I could ever have expected.  
  
I found something with Angel I never expected to find anywhere, and I regained something with Willow we lost long before we'd realized it was gone.  
  
Even though I *get* what Willow was telling me, I still feel disconnected sometimes. Like I'm not totally here, like I left something behind.  
  
I don't know if it's because of the way things were left unsettled in Sunnydale, or if it's something I've imagined, but doesn't really exist.  
  
Either way, I'll have to survive without it.  
  
A knock on the door tore me away from my thoughts.  
  
"Come in."  
  
I don't know whom I expected, but it wasn't Giles.  
  
I stood up quickly, and tried to straighten the bed some.  
  
"G-man." I grinned self-consciously at him. I wasn't sure if he knew whose room this was. It wasn't as if he didn't *know* Angel and I were 'together' but knowing it and *seeing* it aren't quite the same thing.  
  
"Xander." Giles stepped into the room and shut the door behind him.  
  
When the bed looked at least partially acceptable I sat back down and finished putting my shoes on. I noticed Giles was looking around the room. Probably trying to figure out if this was my room, Angel's or both of ours.  
  
The room itself was fairly sparse. Aside from the bed, there was only a desk and three chairs. The dresser was hidden in the closet, allowing for more room. Two of the chairs were near the bed, by the covered window. The third was under the desk, against one wall.  
  
Above the desk were a couple of bookshelves mounted on the wall. The desk itself was completely empty except for a book of poetry lying across the top, with an old brass bookmark sticking out of the top.  
  
Giles picked up the book and smiled slightly quirking an eyebrow at me.  
  
"Angel's." I shrugged. I never did have much use for poetry.  
  
Giles nodded and set the book down moving closer to the desk to examine the bookshelf. I swallowed a little nervously, knowing what was the dominant theme.  
  
"Kreoller's Guide to Demon Physiology." Giles read a title off. "Katarina Sveikov's Study of Demon Dimensions." He picked up a thick, old, but obviously well used book. "Bernard's Reference of Demonic Alchemy."  
  
Giles set the book down as he spoke. "I assume these are Angel's as well."  
  
I swallowed again. "No. Actually, those are mine."  
  
Giles turned towards me, a serious expression in his eyes. "Xander, those are some pretty heavy texts. Are you sure you know what you're doing?"  
  
I smiled slightly at the concern in his eyes. "I know, Giles. Thanks for caring, but I do know what I'm doing. Turns out I have an aptitude for demonology. Who'd a thunk?" I grinned.  
  
"I would have." Giles answered, still very serious. "I did." He moved towards me for a second and I thought he was going to hug me. "I didn't think this would interest you."  
  
I shrugged. I didn't want to explain to him that my interest in demonology didn't start when I hooked up with Angel.  
  
We continued to look at each other in silence. It seemed like there was something else Giles wanted to say, like there was a reason for him being here.  
  
Finally I stepped back and took a seat in one of the chairs and looked up at him. "So, England huh? Watchery stuff, Buffy said. I bet you're both thrilled about that."  
  
Giles walked over and sat down in the other chair, pointedly ignoring the bed and smiled at me in that way he has that says he was indulging me. "Buffy wasn't happy about it, no, not at first, but… she's looking forward to a change in scenery."  
  
What could I say to that? Nothing really, so I didn't. Luckily, Giles wasn't finished.  
  
"I am glad to be going home." He hesitated for a second and then went on, his tone a bit more serious. "The council reinstated me. They found out about Faith. About her being released, and… working, here, in Los Angeles. They felt that now was a good time for Buffy to go to England. There are things she should know."  
  
He trailed off and I nodded. "What about Sunnydale?" I asked, wondering what would happen without a Slayer to patrol the Hellmouth.  
  
"The Hellmouth was sealed…permanently."  
  
I raised my eyebrows at that but it was apparent from the expression on Giles face he wasn't going to elaborate. I dropped it. If he felt safe to leave Sunnydale, I certainly wasn't going to worry about it.  
  
We lapsed into another one of those uncomfortable silences but this time Giles broke it.  
  
"Xander, are you happy here?" He asked me suddenly.  
  
"You mean with Angel?" I clarified. Giles nodded and I sighed, unsure how to answer that so that Giles wouldn't worry. "I'm good. Willow's good. We're all good."  
  
Giles took his glasses off and stared at me, silently telling me that wasn't enough. "Really. We are. I am. Willow is happy with Faith. Shocking as that is, they fit together, don't ask me how because I don't have a clue." I paused, "As for Angel. He understands me."  
  
I wasn't really sure what else I could say to explain it, but apparently that was enough. Giles stood up. I got to my own feet and he pulled me into a hug. A real hug, not those extremely British things I've been on the receiving end of before, but a real hug.  
  
"I'm happy for you."  
  
He pulled back again and put his glasses back on and that seemed to be the end of it. We both left the room, walking downstairs and for a little while, it almost seemed like old times. Almost.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
It was nearly twenty-four hours later before Angel and I got to spend any time alone together. What was supposed to be a mellow Halloween turned into another evening of trampling through the sewers, searching for a slimy Kalseuis demon, trying to avoid the hordes of trick or treating kids.  
  
It was convenient that Buffy and Giles were in town, considering Wes, Gunn and Cordelia were still gone and Willow had taken Faith out for an evil-free night of fun.  
  
What was I saying about convenience?  
  
I was quick to remember, however, that if it weren't for Buffy and Giles' unexpected visit, Angel and I would have been gone too. Instead of trudging through a dirty sewer with the closest thing I have to a father figure, and a good friend I still felt extremely uncomfortable with.  
  
Buffy and Angel had talked, about what I don't know, but she had yet to say more than five words to me. That couldn't be good. I didn't have time to worry about it though, what with a nasty slimy demon on the loose.  
  
Once the demon was disposed of, minus a good portion of its brain, which I ended up wearing; it was time to take Giles and Buffy back to the airport. They got another flight out due to a cancellation.  
  
The drive back to the hotel was made in silence. I wasn't sure if Angel was thinking about Buffy and whatever they had talked about or if he was just enjoying the silence of the night. He was wearing his 'thinking' face. He does that a lot. Normally I have trouble deciphering *what* he's thinking about, but this time, I didn't even want to hazard a guess.  
  
"Alone, at last." Angel said as he locked the door behind me. I was already stripping out of my dirty smelly clothes, regardless of the fact we were still in the lobby.  
  
I turned to look at him in confusion. Those were the first words he said since saying goodbye to Buffy and Giles at the airport. His face was still all serious but there was a definite twinkle in his eyes.  
  
Angel watched me finish stripping out of my dirty clothes before he turned away and moved towards the stairs, not bothering to turn on any lights.  
  
The second floor hall light was on and the slight illumination was enough for me to move around without tripping. I followed him upstairs without a word. He went into his room but I stopped across the hall to mine to jump in the shower. I had no clue what I smelled like to a vampire's sensitive nose, but even *I* could tell I stunk of demon brains.  
  
When I was clean once again and dressed in only my boxers I walked into his room. He was already undressed, wearing only his boxers. I watched him as he hung up his coat and turned to face me.  
  
"I'm glad that's over." He said, moving towards me.  
  
"Are you?" I questioned quietly. I moved closer to him, watching him closely.  
  
"Am I what?" He asked.  
  
"Glad that's over? Seeing Buffy… that wasn't." I trailed off, not sure what word I was searching for.  
  
Angel moved towards me, pulling me into his arms when he reached me. "Nope." He whispered just before covering my lips with his.  
  
It always amazes me when we kiss.  
  
I don't think I was ever truly kissed before this, before *him*. It's nothing like anything I experienced before. He's like nothing I experienced before. His mouth moves over mine as if it has a mind of its own. Any doubt I might have had about his feelings for me after he saw Buffy disappear into thin air.  
  
I pull away from him before I can't anymore, and take a deep breath. It's been a rough couple of days. Before I can even exhale I feel his arms around me.  
  
"I've been thinking." His voice rumbled against my bare back.  
  
"Oh yeah?" I asked leaning back into him. "'Bout what?" 

"We should get out of here."  
  
I turned my head slightly allowing him to lick my neck.  
  
"Now?" I whispered, my voice husky.  
  
"No. In a few weeks." His mouth worked a trail down from my neck to my shoulder, causing me to shiver. "Willow said she wanted to take Faith to meet her parents for Thanksgiving."  
  
I moaned low in my throat as I felt his body mold against mine, in all the right places. I was having trouble concentrating on his words instead of his actions.  
  
"Are Wes and…" I groaned as he pressed my body closer to his, moving us towards the bed. "Gunn going to…" my brain was quickly losing cohesion. "Wherever they're going."

"All three of them will be gone." We finally fell onto the bed with a soft thump and he scooted us up so that our feet weren't dragging on the ground. "So, we can either stay here, we'll have the place to ourselves, but more chance of interruptions, or." He flipped me over and slipped his tongue between my lips as he cleverly and efficiently removed my boxers.  
  
I lost track of the conversation after that. In fact I lost track of pretty much everything. There didn't seem to be much beyond the feeling of his skin against mine, and the sounds coming from deep within his chest, and the sounds I couldn't believe *I* was making.  
  
It took me several minutes to come back to something resembling lucidity. When I did, I noticed that not only was I lying *under* the sheets, but I was cleaned up. I was leaning against Angel's normally silent chest, and if I didn't know better I'd swear he was purring.  
  
After a few more silent moments, I remembered the conversation we were sort of having before my brain fritzed out.  
  
"Thanksgiving?" I asked quietly looking up at him. "You want to go away, or stay here?"  
  
"Away." He answered almost immediately.  
  
I nodded against his chest. "Probably smarter. We're jinxed."  
  
He chuckled and it reverberated through his chest.  
  
I was right and he knew it. Things we had no control over, just like Easter and who knew how many other holidays had ruined our Halloween plans.  
  
This was our life. Could I expect anything less?  
  
"Sounds like a plan." I told him finally, before my eyes became too heavy and I slipped into sleep.  
  
*~*~*~*


End file.
